1,000 Looters Turn Philly Retail Zone into "Total Loss"

In the second night of unrest in Philadelphia after the Monday shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. by police, police say 1,000 looters descended on retail stores in the Port Richmond neighborhood.

Police told CBS Philly that the area was "a total loss."

Looters also hit stores in other parts of the city.

Philadelphia County's District Attorney Larry Krasner has reportedly charged dozens of suspect with felony burglary related to Monday's looting.

Despite the prosecutions a Fox29 reporter tweeted that police were ordered not to arrest looters Tuesday night.

Breaking: OBTAINED BY FOX29 NEWS. Directive from @PhillyPolice executive team. Extremely frustrated officers, both patrol&commanders told me overnight they were”ordered to NOT arrest looters just disperse them”. ‘CAR-2’ is Deputy Police Commissioner Melvin Singleton @FOX29philly pic.twitter.com/HVjryECnrv

— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29) October 28, 2020

ABC6 reports at least seven ATMs were damaged by explosives. 10 ATMs were blown up during the Monday riots. It does not appear that the ATM blast are opening the cash boxes.In other areas of the city, protesters clashed with police at the 18 District police station. There were no reports of injuries.

Fox 29 reports the city has set a 6 p.m. curfew for Wednesday night.

Wallace Jr., 27, was killed on Monday afternoon by two officers after, police say, he walked towards them with a knife and refused to drop the weapon. Neither officer was issued a TASER, officials say.

Video from the scene shows the officers repeatedly issuing commands to the man to "put down the knife."

WHYY reporter Peter Crimmins told NPR that Wallace "was 27 years old, married, and the father of eight children with another on the way. He made his living driving Uber and an aspiring rapper, and he was also diagnosed with a bipolar condition. He was prescribed lithium, and he had more than his fair share of run-ins with the law for aggressive behavior, most recently in March, for making threats. And he had been, in the past, sentenced to some court-ordered mental health treatments. But when he was on his meds, apparently, he was a really mellow guy. People say he was calm, a nice guy, a family guy."

The Pennsylvania National Guard is sending several hundred members to support the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management and local agencies, according to a statement. They are not expected to arrive until Friday.